Sednyana
The Federation of Sednyana '(Incean: ''Annaktis no-Sednyana), or simply '''Sednyana, is a federal representative republic on the eastern coast of the Southern Continent. It is composed of sixteen states, two territories, and one federal district. Of these, thirteen states as well as the Capital District are located on mainland Sednyana, while three are located in the Sednya Islands. The capital of Sednyana is Kia Boya. With a population of 128,213,769 as of the 2013 estimate, Sednyana is the fifth-most populous nation in the world. It is highly ethnically diverse and multicultural, and a leader in world economics, culture, academics, and politics. Sednyana's land area is 1,053,731 square miles, the fifth-largest of any nation in the world, and is divided over a wide range of biomes. The southern part of the nation is mostly arid desert, although the coast is a wet temperate coastal plane; in the north of the country, it gives way to deciduous and then tropical rainforest, as well as the high Feran Mountains. Sednyana also includes the vast majority of the Sednya Islands, located off the coast of the mainland. Mainland Sednyana shares borders with Ziunia, Zenia, Tara, and Barreland and Gemoriyn, while Sednyana also has water borders with Nilana, Eqota (through the Sellapin Islands and Coconut Islands), the Northern Polaris Islands and Norik (through the Polaris Islands). Sednyana was inhabited by Inceans and other native groups for over ten thousand years before it was settled by white Celtons fleeing Celta after the demise of the Anglean Empire. The first settlers arrived in 1270-ish? and founded the city of Durham, after which many more waves of settlers, mostly from Celta but also from other regions of the former Anglean Empire, fled to Sednyana. After a war with the Kingdom of Incea, the Celton settlers eventually agreed to join with them and create a new nation. On June 11, 1305, the Second Incean Peace treaty established Sednyana (meaning New Golden Land ''in Incean) as a kingdom of Inceans and Celtons with Alan Ellona, a prominent Celton settler and advocate of peace, as its first king. The kingdom of Sednyana lasted until 1500, expanding and exerting its influence on the nations around it, particularly during the Age of Empires when Alexander III proclaimed himself Sednyanese Emperor and attempted domination of the Southern Continent. Alexander's dreams were never realized and the empire fell; however, the kingdom remained until the invasion of the Rhamidian Empire in 1497 under the pretense of reclaiming its escaped citizens. Although the last king of Sednyana, Alan II, was killed during the war, George Ross, a Sednyanese general, philosopher and politician, took control of the country and won the war. On September 21, 1503, Ross and a constitutional committee signed a new constitution into law, transforming Sednyana into the world's first federal representative democracy. Since 1503, Sednyana has grown in population and influence, and has become one of the most powerful nations in the world. Although its political system nearly collapsed during the Crisis of 1657, president Sylvester King was able to reform the political system and adapt Sednyana to the modern age, turning it into a world power. During the Industrial Revolution, Sednyana adapted its economy to become an industrial power, and now has the fourth-largest economy on Terra. It has the fifth-highest development index of any nation on Terra, and the highest of the Great Powers. The largest city in Sednyana is Monopodia, which is the economic capital of the nation, although it also has a large number of regional cities and other major urban hubs such as Ross City, Cethen, Kia Boya, Niavara, and Durham. The currency is the Sedna. The current president of Sednyana is Rebecca Canton. Etymology ''Sednyana is a compound Incean word, often translated into English as "Golden Land," even though in Incean it simply means Land of Sed. Sednyana derives from the Incean words s''edny'', meaning "gold," anis, "''new," and ''ka, "land." The first official use of the term was at the Celton-Incean peace conferences; however sedny anis ka, meaning "new golden land," was an Incean phrase long before the arrival of the Celtons, and is featured in several Incean spirituals. Alan Ellona liked the name because he felt that it accurately summed up the hopes of the Celtons in sailing to Sednyana, as well as Incean dreams of a new, greater place, which Alan hoped that Sednyana could be. It is sometimes said that Sednyana is the only nation in the world to be named after a song, as sedny anis ka ''was featured in spirituals before the creation of the nation; however, Sednyana was not directly named after any particular song, but instead simply after the Incean phrase. The national anthem, Sedny Anis Ka, was composed after the creation of Sednyana, although it was heavily based off of Incean spirituals. History ''Full article: ''History of Sednyana '' Geography 'Physical Geography' Sednyana has a total area of 1,883,208 square miles, of which 1,053,731 are land and 829,477 are water. The majority of its area is centered around mainland Sednyana, located on the Southern Continent and composed of thirteen states. This region borders (counterclockwise from the north): Ziunia, Zenia, Tara, Barreland and Gemoriyn. The southern coastal region of Sednyana is warm temperate, and is mostly temperate forest and low hills. Inland of Ellona, the temperate forest gives way to dry grassland and eventually, around halfway through the state of West Cedar, to the Alto Desert, which stretches all the way across Sednyana and into Tara, as well as south into Barreland and Gemoriyn. It is a hot and dry desert, in some areas reaching up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the hottest parts of the summer. Although it is significantly cooler in the winter, it is still much hotter than the coastal forest. Most of the desert drains through the Farona River, which travels northwest before doubling back on itself and traveling east to empty into the Kaya River. The Kaya River crosses through the warm temperate and suptropical Kaya forests, including the Painted Mountains of West Kaya, and eventually empties into the Outer Ocean at Monopodia. North of Kaya, the forest gives way to a subtropical plain, containing the Toka River, and, north of there, to the Incean Rainforest, a tropical rainforest that stretches up the rest of Sednyana and into Ziunia. East of the Incean rainforest is a coastal swamp, in Seas' Cove, and a long stretch of coastline with barrier islands that has, in recent years, become a tourist hotspot. West of the rainforest are the Feran Mountains, forming the border with Tara. The tallest mountains in Sednyana, the Feran Mountains contain Sednyana's highest point, in Mountain Springs National Park. The Feran Mountains are considered naturally beautiful and are frequently visited by tourists and alpinists. The Sednya Islands lay east of the coast of Sednyana. Sednyana has over 5,000 Sednya islands, in the states of Xeta, Ross and Koala. They are tropical and mostly covered in rainforest. The largest Sednya island is Nusa Tengara, in the state of Xeta. Other major islands include Ross Island, Rivesa Island, Skye Island, Snake Island, and Boa. The Sednyanese ecology is considered diverse. The national animal, the Incean tiger, is the largest native land animal and, though endangered, is highly protected by law and live in supportable amounts in several national parks and preserves throughout Jenet and, to a lesser extent, Matreena. There are thought to be up to one thousand land vertebrate species living in Sednyana, as well as more than 50,000 insect species. Many of these animals live in national parks, of which there are twenty-seven, as well as state parks, national wildlife areas, and national forests. More than 60% of the state of Jenet is in some sort of protected area, including its five national parks and 23 wildlife areas. 'Political Geography' Sednyana is divided into states, which in turn are divided into counties. There are sixteen states of Sednyana and two federal territories, the Sednyanese Coconut Islands and the Sednyanese Polaris Islands, as well as one federal district, the Capital District, containing the national capital, Kia Boya. The sixteen states are: Demographics 'Population' As of the 2013, Sednyana's population is currently estimated to be 128,213,679. It is the fifth-largest nation in the world by population, behind Norik, Lasterus, the Basalteinell Federation and Toran. Its current annual growth rate is 0.848%, although it only has a birth rate of 10 per 1,000. Its growth rate, slightly higher than most developed nation, is a result of its high rate of immigration, particularly from Zenia, Ukar and Tara. Approximately five million Sednyanese identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual, accounting for 4% of the population. Ethnicity See also: ''Inceans, Black people in Sednyana Sednyana is among the most racially and ethnically diverse nations on the planet, with a wide variety of racial and ethnic groups. However, its long and complicated history with race and immigration makes racial classification difficult. Until 1978, Sednyanese censuses had a category for race specifying "white," "black," "Incean/Native Sednyanese," "Southerner," "two or more" and "other." However, the Race and Ethnicity Act of 1978 stated that race is a indefinite human construct and replaced the check-box system with a single line asking for self-identified "ethnicity," and another checkbox for whether the citizen identifies themselves as Incean or native Sednyanese. In the 2012 census, 10.1% of Sednyanese identified as Incean or Native Sednyanese, while another 5% said that they were "unsure." Around 4% identified as Ukari, 3.5% as Zenian, 3% as Toranese, 1% as Tarati, and 2.7% as other immigrants from the Southern Continent (so-called "Southerners"). 8% identified as two or more ethnicities or as another specific ethnicity. The majority of the rest of the population identify as "Sednyanese," "white," or "black," which are relative terms; estimates show that around 64% of the Sednyanese population are white (have origins in the northern parts of the world) and 32% fall under the broadest category of black. '''Cities' There are 104 cities in Sednyana with over 100,000 residents, and 21 metropolitan regions with over a million residents. The fifteen largest cities in Sednyana area: 'Language' The two official languages of Sednyana are English and Incean; however, the de facto ''state language is English, and Incean is only widely used within the province of Incea. Xet'i is still legally an official language of Xeta, although it is almost never used. The state of Koala also officially recognizes Qotian as an official state language, and the Sednyanese Coconut Islands recognize Aminzili and Kiriwata as official languages of the territory. About 98% of Sednyanese can fluently speak English; 86% as first language speakers and another 16% as second-language speakers. The second largest language, Incean, is spoken by about 9% of the population, 3.5% as native and 5.5% as second language. After Incean come Qotian, with 8.5% (4.3% as a first language and 4.2% as a second language), Ulamtyri with 2.3%, and Toranese with 1.3%. Some 3.6% of the population speak another language as their first language, including Noriki, Ukari, Zenian, Basaltiane, and Ziun. 'Religion' There is no one dominant religion in Sednyana; however, historically, the nation religion has been Centrism, and today 42.1% of the population, a plurality, identify as Centrist - 12.9% as Anglean Centrists and 29.2% as Sednyanese Centrist. Among Centrists, approximately 31% consider themselves "devout." Another 10% of Sednyanese are Naturist, largely centered around Incea but present all over the nation. Sednyana is the most Naturist nation in the world, with the Garden of Naturism located in Niavara, where over 45% of people identify as Naturist. Sednyana also has a significant Polethist community, comprising 6.6% of the population, making it the fourth most Polethist country in the world. After Polethism come Cåoism, with 2.3%, Masctism, with 1.9%, and other religions with 2.0%. 34.6% of Sednyanese consider themselves non-religious. Government and Infrastructure Sednyana is a federal representative republic, and the oldest functioning democracy in the world. Its constitution, ratified on September 21, 1503, is also the world's oldest constitution. The government is divided into three branches: the executive branch, or the president, who rules from Marblegate; the legislative branch, or the Senate, who rule from the Federal Senate; and the judicial, who judge from the Supreme Court. These three branches of government are attempted to balance each other - the legislative draft laws, the judicial rules on their constitutionality, and the executive vetoes laws and acts as the head of state. Sednyanese citizens are subject to five tiers of government, of which three are independent, and two, provinces and counties, are dependent on higher tiers. The federal government, centered in the Federal Senate of Kia Boya, is the ultimate determinant in the case of laws, and its laws cascade down through all of the lower tiers of government. Everything that the federal government passes must comply to the written law of the Constitution of the Federation of Sednyana. The constitution sets aside certain issues that the federal government should pass laws on and other areas that the federal government should leave up to the states. Sednyana is further divided into sixteen states, each of which have their own governments with an executive, legislative and judicial branch. Every state has a governor, state senate, and state court, although the composition and organization of these governmental institutions may vary. There are a number of laws that are left to the states to determine. Sednyana's sixteen states are also grouped into six federal regions, with two or three states each. Regions act as a subset of the federal government, and function with an executive (known as a Premier) and a Regional Congress, composed of state senators from the represented states. The regional government meets much more infrequently than the state or federal government, but may decide laws specific to invidiual regions. Regions were originally created in the late sixteenth century to allow Incea a special status and to be able to pass laws specific to the three states that composed it; after the creation of the region of Incea, other states grouped themselves into their own regions. States are subdivided into two more tiers of government, counties and municipalities. County governments are entirely dependent on the state government, and cannot pass their own individual legislation. County governments consist of a county council and a county court, with no executive branch. The chief functions of counties are to provide government to those living outside of incorporated municipalities, as all of Sednyana is included in a county but not all of Sednyana is included in a municipality, to create a council that can aid development between neighboring municipalities, and to aid in the collection of census data. Counties are generally more important in rural areas, and in urban areas are largely ceremonial, as all of the land is taken up by municipalities. Several major cities are their own counties, including Kia Boya, Ross City, Niavara, and Durham. The smallest level of government is the municipal. Municipalities may pass their own laws, but they must heed first to state, regional and federal laws. Municipalities can be either villages, towns, or cities, depending on population, density, and desire of the municipality's residents. In general, villages usually have under 3,000 people, towns have between 3,000 and 30,000 people, and cities have more than 30,000 people, although this can vary greatly across the country. The smallest city, Chi Lan, Jenet, has a population of 4,800, while the largest town, Ross City Beach, has a population of just over a hundred thousand. The government of municipalities varies widely. Usually, cities have an executive called a mayor, a city council, and a city court, while towns have a town council and villages have a village council. '''Politics' The Sednyanese political scene, like most others, is often conceived of on a "left-right" spectrum and is dominated by several major parties. The current largest party, in control of both the presidency and the Senate, are the Social Democrats, a left or center-left political party who believe in a social democratic system (also called "white socialism") that involves the creation of a welfare state, government intervention in economics, a strong executive, and - at least in modern days - social liberalism such as the embrace of gender and race equality and LGBT rights, while rejecting violent socialist revolution and the abolition of private property (see: red socialism). The current President of the Social Democratic Party is Rebecca Canton, who is also the President of Sednyana; Stephen Ntedye, the Sednyanese vice president, is also a Social Democrat, as is the Senate majority leader Michael Cook. The party chair is Julia Morrison. The leader of the opposition in Senate are the Liberalists, who form the major counterweight to the Social Democrats; by far Sednyana's oldest party, dating back to James Haddick in 1512, the Liberalists are a Classically liberal party supporting free market economics, little to no government intervention in the economy, low taxes, and a weak executive. They have also traditionally strongly opposed regulations on guns and on free speech, and in modern days also espouse internet freedom, and a lack of government involvement in matters such as gender and race equality, placing them between the Social Democrats - who often support laws and policies directly aimed to combat inequality - and members of the far right, who often support laws specifically intended to discriminate based on race, gender or sexual orientation. The president of the party is currently Michael Spear, the Senate minority leader, and the chair is Victoria Myers. The Conservative Party is the powerhouse of the far right. While the Conservatives have declined at the expense of the Liberalists in recent years, they had historically fielded a number of presidents and continue to have a powerful presence in the so-called "blue" states of Sednyana such as Alto, West Cedar, and South Fera. Conservatives typically support free-market capitalism with minimal regulations like the Liberalists, although often also support strong executives and a powerful government due to their emphasis on militarism and foreign interventionism. Conservatives are often devoutly Centrist and believe in "Centrist values" and a vision of a traditional Sednyanese family. They generally do not support gay marriage or LGBT rights, and are opposed to almost all immigration. Frequently racially-charged and agrarianist, conservatives. Under the wing of the Conservative Party are a number of other, often more reactionary, far right parties, such as the Centrist Liberty Party, founded around the principle of extreme adherence to Centrist values, and the Nativist Party, which strongly opposes all immigration and supports mass deportations. Often considered far right but unconnected to any of the other conservative parties is the Black Nationalist Party, an ultranationalist party supporting a dominance of Sednyanese blacks over the white population and a gradual integration of the white majority into a Black-dominant political system. The Green Party was founded in 1922 as part of the Incean Renaissance, initially advocating for traditional Incean values in Sednyanese politics and more and more coming to support far-left social policies, environmentalism, and a confederal political system that borders on Haastian anarchism. While the modern Green Party shares many political views with the Social Democrats, it has been traditionally supported not by the urban working class in white-majority cities but by rural Inceans, although in recent years more and more urbanites and whites have been joining the Green Party. It is sometimes considered the flagship party of the "Far Left," though sometimes the Far Left is considered to refer more specifically to the Socialist Party of Sednyana and its related parties, such as the Anarchist Party and the Black Socialist Party. Influential members of the Far Left include Cethenian mayor Adam Bar and Benjamin Sudley, Boyada congressman and President of the Socialist Party. 'Health Care' Sednyana has a semi-public health care system, featuring a public option that covers basic health expenses as well as private corporations that will pay for more extensive health operations, including preventable expenses. The current health care system was established with the Health Care Reform Act of 1972, which has been amended forty-nine times since, the most amendments to any legislative act in Sednyanese history. The public option in Sednyana is officially known as Basic Insurance, and it is provided for all Sednyanese citizens regardless of income or condition. Basic Insurance covers one yearly checkup, all of the shots deemed mandatory by the government, coverage for unpreventable diseases, and emergency care. On top of this, hospitals are legally required to admit any patient with a potentially life-threatening health concern, regardless of their residence status, criminal record or insurance plan. Basic Insurance does not cover unnecessary or highly preventable surgery, and it does not cover medications that are not absolutely necessary. The majority of Sednyanese buy from one of several private health care providers that provide varying degrees of coverage, from slightly more than Basic Insurance to covering 100% of all health costs. These health care providers are forced to abide by a very strict and detailed set of regulations that detail how they may function. Many jobs in Sednyana also provide their employees with private health insurance from a major company; as of 2012, the average Sednyanese with private health insurance has it paid for by their employer. Economy Education Sednyana has a free public education system for primary and secondary school. Graduation from twelth grade is mandatory in Sednyana, although a student can attend either public education or any of 6,270 accredited private schools, which include both sectarian schools (mostly Centrist) and nonsectarian schools. Nonsectarian private schools are often highly selective, with some schools, such as San Carlos College in Porta Boa, Koala, Del Raphael in North Fera, Landers Academy in Durham, or the Astor School in Kia Boya, attracting students from all across Sednyana to board and participate in a highly rigorous academic environment. All private schools must undergo a rigorous accreditization process in which they prove that they meet the same standards as public schools. The teaching of pseudoscience as truth or the discrediting of scientifcally accepted fact (as established by the Sednyanese Scientific Society) in any Sednyanese school is illegal by the Standards in Private Education Act of 1979. The Sednyanese public education system falls under the jurisdiction of the state; some states push the education system off to individual counties and municipalities, while others maintain a centralized state education system. All schools must meet the Sednyanese Board of Educators' standards and regulations for public education. The International Board of Educators ranked Sednyana's public secondary education system as the ninth best in the world; while some school districts, such as Kia Boya and Cedar, have received commendations for their quality, others in states such as South Fera and West Cedar have received criticism. There are 914 universities in Sednyana, including forty-four public universities which are subsidized by the government. Each state has its own public university, the largest of which is the University of East Kaya, which has eight campuses across East Kaya and over 100,000 total students. The only federally run university is the Sednyanese National University (SNU), which is the largest single-campus university in Sednyana, with over 40,000 students. The majority of Sednyanese universities, however, are private, and Sednyana is known for having some of the best private universities in the world. The most famous are the so-called "Big Ten" schools, which are consistently ranked as the most prestigious and academically rigorous of any of the schools in Sednyana; these are Fern Grove University in Santursbury, Matreena; McCalvin University in Kia Boya; Harrison University, in Denam, Cedar; King Alan University, in Durham; Montemayor University, in Maytown, West Kaya; Harper University, in Ashemore, East Kaya; Bula University, in Kari-Bula; Tengara University in Inor, Xeta; Wilmero University in Wilmero, Alto; and the Turner Institute of Science and Technology in Monopodia. There are notable other universities, including schools of music such as the National Conservatory in Kia Boya or the Cethen School of Music in Cethen, as well as other schools highly renowned for their arts curricula, such as the University of Camariyo. Culture Sednyana's culture is a mix of the cultures of the home nations of its highly immigrant population along with the native Incean culture which have come together to create a distinct Sednyanese cultural identity. Sednyanese people usually have a strong sense of Sednyanese nationality and reflect this in their music, art, and literature, all of which Sednyana has developed its own distinct and unique forms of. 'Music' Full article: ''Music of Sednyana Sednyanese music finds its origins in Incean folk music and the traditional musical theory of the Anglean world. Between its inception and the late nineteenth century, classical music in Sednyana was mostly enjoyed by the upper classes at special concert halls and was based around the traditional classical Anglean theory; popular instruments included the piano, violin, harpsichord, bass, and harp. Large orchestras arose in Sednyana in the 1400s, with notable composers including Samuel Danzer and Benjamin Avren Daniels. As more immigrants came to Sednyana, Qotian guitar became more and more popular, along with the rhythms of Norik and Toran. Incean folk music remained very much a niche taste during this era, enjoyed mostly casually by Inceans, and was not generally appreciated at major concert halls, although some composers attempted to incorporate themes and theories of Incean music into their own compositions. In the nineteenth century, as Sednyana industrialized, more and more immigrants came to be clustered into urban slums; one major city that faced urbanization and problems in urban development was Cethen, which grew enormously between 1800 and 1900, with much of its workforce comprised of Inceans and immigrants. In the slums, the lower classes of Cethen developed a distinctive form of music highly influenced by Incean folk rhythms which came to be known as the blues, and soon spread outside of Cethen. Although the blues was considered to be low-class music, it soon became very popular among Sednyana, and, by 1900, it had branched out into jazz music, which also developed mostly in Cethen and came to dominate the Sednyanese music scene, becoming the first true popular music of Sednyana. Jazz and blues spread throughout the world, and Sednyanese music became extremely popular; in the early twentieth century, rock and roll began to develop in Sednyana and Lasterus, giving rise to the first Sednyanese rock band, Caspin's Crew. Throughout the twentieth century, rock remained the dominant form of Sednyanese music, branching off into many different sub-genres and individual traditions, including pop, hard rock, metal, garage rock, and punk. The Sednyanese band the Green Flame became the most popular artist in history, while other groups such as Diamond Soul, Bridge to the Sky and Beat 5 pushed the genre forward into new musical territory. Jazz has also remained popular in Sednyana, and, despite enjoying less widespread popularity to rock, has also formed a large community and pushed the limits of music. The Jazz Conservatory at the Cethen School of Music is often considered the world's preeminant school of jazz, and Sednyana contains many of the world's most celebrated jazz musicians. Classical music and Incean folk music still thrive in Sednyana, particularly at the National Music Conservatory in Kia Boya. 'Literature, Theater and Cinema' Sednyana has a long literary tradition that dates back to Incean theater (''njas), which combined music, poetry and religious practice into popular events that often took center stage in communal social life. Rulers such as those of the Ngedyen dynasty sponsored court poetry and theater, some of which survives in incomplete form, perhaps most notably the Ummdara. This tradition continued for hundreds of years after the foundation of Sednyana, but grew gradually weaker during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, all but disappearing in the nineteenth century as traditionally Incean cities began anglified and the rural peasantry migrated to Southern cities, where njas ''lost its theatrical and poetic elements and would eventually morph into jazz and blues music. '' '' During this period 'Visual Art' '''fjdj' 'Cuisine' fhdh Sports See also List of states of SednyanaList of cities in Sednyana by populationHistory of SednyanaCulture of Sednyana Category:Sednyana Category:Countries Category:Southern Continent